Monthly Archives: January 2010

I got a chance to watch the full Gonzaga game Thursday
night. And the Zags, for the most part, weren’t all that impressive
against Santa Clara. Senior All-American candidate Matt
Boldin and 6-8 freshman sensation Elias Harris both had off nights
as the No. 8-ranked Bulldogs tried to mount a comeback. They
trailed by as many as 13 in the second half.

They finally got it going, thanks to Steven Gray, the 6-foot-5
junor guard from Bainbridge. There are players who jump higher and
have more flash to their game, but not many collegians are as
well-rounded on — or
off — the court as Gray. On Thursday night, he always seemed to
be in the right spot, hustling for a loose ball or a rebound, or
making a big shot. He hit a 3-pointer that got the Bulldogs to
within one late in the game and made a simple, but beautiful cut to
take an inbounds pass and score the bucket that clinched the 71-64
win. Gray finished with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1
steal. Not spectacular, yet his stats don’t
tell the story.

You can tell that Gray’s enjoying himself. The former Metro
League MVP, who led the Spartans to the Class 3A state title game
his senior year, was all smiles after Thursday’s win. Even during
heated moments of the game, he’s smiling. The demeanor, the
athleticism, the engery, combined with a high basketball IQ,
makes him an NBA prospect. Dime Magazine recently called him
the
Biggest Sleeper on the West Coast, and they might be right.

In his last five games, Gray has averaged 17.6 points, 6.0
rebounds and 3.6 assists. He’s made 53.8 percent of his shots
and 85.7 percent of his free throws. Gray had 14 points
and 14 rebounds in a win at St. Mary’s during that
stretch.

“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Bouldin said prior to
the Santa Clara win. “When he looks to score and plays aggressively
he’s tough. He’s definitely shown he can guard just about anybody
in the country.”

The former Bainbridge star is showing that he’s one of the most
complete players in the country.

The Seattle Sounders have capped their season ticket sales at
32,000 for their second MLS season — and, once again, they’re going
fast. As of this morning, there were 1,000 left.

For ticket information visit www.soundersfc.com or call
877-MLS-GOAL.

Here’s the AP story:

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Already having set new Major League
Soccer standards for attendance in their inaugural season, the
Seattle Sounders FC are taking it up a notch in year No. 2.
The Sounders said Wednesday that they will cap season ticket sales
at 32,000 for the 2010 season. That’s 10,000 more than their first
season, when the Sounders averaged a league-record 30,943 per
match.
Seattle says its season ticket package includes 15 regular season
MLS matches and three international friendlies yet to be announced.
The team says less than 1,000 season-ticket packages remain.
The Sounders will kick off the 2010 MLS season when they host the
expansion Philadelphia Union on March
25.

UPDATE: Ashley Wagner had a strong performance but finished
third at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday night in
Spokane. The top two earned Olympic berths. NBC is broadcasting the
event on a delayed basis as I type.

Earlier Report: Ashley Wagner, the figure skater who
considers Kitsap County home, is reporting from Spokane on YouTube.
Wagner should be on the ice, or just finishing about now. Her
peformance in today’s long program at the U.S. Figure Skating
Championships will be televised tonight at 8 p.m. (Universal) and 9
p.m. by NBC.

The Washington Huskies knew they’d have a hard time replacing
Jon Brockman. The pride of Snohomish brought it every game — heck,
every practice — and the current team wasn’t doing that until last
week’s impressive sweep of Stanford and Cal.
For the most part, you can’t fault the Huskies’ effort in
Thursday’s 62-61 loss at UCLA, but it’s becoming clear that the
team doesn’t have anyone they can count on inside. The “bigs” were
MIA again in the loss to the Bruins.
These Huskies are a puzzling bunch. Remember, these sub.-500 Bruins
are not the powerhouse Bruins we’ve come used to watching. And they
weren’t even at full strength, yet they beat the Huskies, who are
still looking for a road win.
Speaking of Brockman, did you seethe rookie’s line the other day in
Sacramento’s 105-103 loss to the Chicago Bulls? 30 minutes, 0
points on 0-1 FG shooting and 14 rebounds, 7 of them offensive
boards.
In Sacramento’s next game, the bullish Brockman made his second
start of the season at center in place of former Husky and good
buddy Spencer Hawes. Brockman had six points, three rebounds and
four fouls in 23 minutes in a loss against Atlanta. He didn’t make
it to the end of the game. In typical Brockman fashion, he struck
his head on a camera while tumbling out of bounds and he had to be
treated for a cut over his left eye.
Brockman was inserted into the lineup to give the Kings some
toughness.
Here’s what the Sacramento Bee had to say about Brockman:The 6-foot-7 Brockman played 20 of his 30 minutes in the second
half against Charlotte. He grabbed 10 of his career-high 14
rebounds while overseeing a major upgrade in frontcourt defense.
After tallying 38 points in the paint before the break, the Bobcats
had 16 points there in the second half.
The Kings won the other game in which Brockman started (102-100
over Denver on Jan. 9). The rookie from Washington said he is
looking forward to setting a tough-guy tone at the start.
“If we’re the ones back on our heels from the start, it’s going to
take a lot more for us to rear in and start pushing them back,”
Brockman said. “(Huskies coach Lorenzo) Romar always talked about
the first punch … If you come out and you’re the more physical
team, the refs are going to let you play a little more physical and
it’s just going to be a lot easier throughout the night.”

I ‘m at home right now, watching the replay of Saturday’s World
Cup bobsled race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on the Universal
Sports network. Wonderful network if you’re into Olympic sports.
Bremerton’s
Bree Schaaf is coming up soon. Of course, I know she finishes
11th and qualifies for the Olympics, but I’m anxous to see her
second run — one where she nearly crashes her sled. The crash could
have cost her dream, but she kept it upright and was able to
celebrate at the end.

Watching that run, even though I knew the result, was pretty
cool.

Now let’s turn out attention to another local
Olympian. If you haven’t read
our story about Ashley Wagner, the figure skater who calls
Seabeck home, you should — especially if you’re a fan of figure
skating and the Olympics. Her parents, Melissa and Eric, grew up in
Kitsap County. Her grandfather, Mike James, was the head park
ranger at Scenic Beach State Park for years. Freelance writer,
Meri-Jo Borzilleri, is covering Wagner for The Sun at this week’s
U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane. It starts Thursday
night with the short program. The long program is Saturday. Here’s
another really
good read on Wagner from Ron Judd of the Seattle Times, the
former Kitsap Sun reporter who still kicks around the wide world of
outdoor sports with Seabury Blair, Jr., Kitsap’s outdoors
writer.

The women’s short program is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; the long
program starts at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Here’s the TV schedule for the
women’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships:

This just in: Olympic College just hired James Ritchie to coach
the men’s soccer team.
Ritchie’s an assistant with the Kitsap Pumas. That gives the Pumas
two assistants in the NWAACC. Andrew Chapman, head coach at
Peninsula CC, also works with the Pumas.

Here’s an interview with Ritchie when the Pumas were kicking
things off. Ritchie’ s also currently coaching the
Pumas U17 Academy team. We’ve also heard that Ritchie is in the
running for the South Kitsap boys soccer position. If he lands that
one, he’s going to be one busy Scotsman.

The Scotsman is an interesting guy and well respected by the
Pumas’ ownership group. The folks in the soccer community who don’t
know him are going to like him. Here’s a video with James talking
to GOALKitsap.com.

* OC’s also close to naming a new volleyball coach. They’ve got
some excellent candidates from within the community, said athletic
director Barry Janusch.

* Don’t know if you’ve picked up on it, but the Northwest
Athletic Association of Community Colleges cut 10 percent of the
schedules for its member schools this year to help with the
challenging economic times. Basketball teams, for instance, are
playing 26 games instead of 23, this season.
You might also notice that OC is playing matinee doubleheaders on
Saturdays. Instead of the usual 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men)
start times, they’re playing at 2 p.m. (women) and 4 p.m. (men).
From a marketing standpoint, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Then
again, OC doesn’t do a lot to attract crowds anymore. They throw
the ball up and let ‘em play. I’m surprised they even charge
admission.
They used to have halftime shoots and give away sodas or pizza.
They don’t even sell popcorn anymore.
Too bad they can’t get that place packed. It’s the best homecourt
advantage in the NWAACC when it’s rocking.
The Rangers are home tonight. Next home games are Saturday against
Edmonds. Game times, I repeat, are 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

* You want to follow the NWAACC? Here’s the link to the conference Web
site, where you’ll find roster, standings, scores and
schedules.

I caught up with Neil Fryer recently. The former Central Kitsap
basketball star played professionally in Costa Rica after finishing
up his senior year at Eastern Oregon a year ago.
He’s now in Montana, where his family moved. His dad, Tim Fryer,
coached boys basketball at Central Kitsap and was a golf pro at
Gold Mountain for a while. Tim and his wife, Candy, now live in
Miles City. Neil Fryer was living in Billings when I talked to him,
but was preparing to move to Helena, where he was excited about
going to work as an accountant.
The high-flying 6-foot-4 guard/forward could have gone back to
Costa Rica or pursued other pro basketball opportunities overseas,
but Fryer said it was time to get on with his life.
“It went well,” he said of playing overseas. “I had a good time. …
I wasn’t tired of basketball per se, but I was ready to experience
different things. It’s a good time to catch up on what I’ve missed
out on. I’ve been spending as much time with my family as I can and
just trying to get established.”
Fryer said the 10-team semi-pro league in Costa Rica was “a bigger
deal” than he thought it would be.
Fryer helped the Mountaineers, from La Grande, Ore., advance to the
Sweet 16 in 2009 and to the elite eight at the NAIA national
tournament in 2008 and 2009.
His college coach, Ryan Looney, is now the head coach at Seattle
Pacific. Fryer was recruited to Eastern Oregon by then-assistant
Isaac Williams, a Central Kitsap grad who played at Olympic College
and Eastern. Williams replaced Looney as the head coach of the
Mountaineers.
“He’s a great guy,” Fryer said of Williams. “He knows basketball as
well as anybody I’ve met as far as X’s and
O’s. … As long as he keeps pulling pepole from CK he’ll keep
winning.”
Cody Thurmond, a freshman from CK, is currently on the
Mountaineers’ roster and guard J.R. Gordon, who played with Fryer
at CK, is red-shirting after transferring from Lewis-Clark
State.
Eastern Oregon traveled to Costa Rica during Fyrer’s junior season,
which is the connection on how he ended up there.
One of four Americans in the league, he signed with Coopenae Liceo
de Costa Rica in May and left in July. Liceo reached the league
finals and was one of two premier clubs in the league.
“They took care of me pretty good,” Fryer said when asked about the
pay. “I couldn’t really complain.”
His sister, Lindsey Fryer, a standout middle blocker in volleyball,
recently graduated from Concordia College in Portland, Ore. She
also attended Central Kitsap High School.

Spring training will be here before we know it. Here’s some
links to get you in the mood:

Aaron Cunningham’s got a start on a helluva baseball cap
collection. The former South Kitsap standout was just
traded to his fourth organization in five years. In
case you missed it, Cunningham was sent to San Diego along with
outfielder Jerry Hairston for third baseman Kevin
Kouzmanoff and a minor leaguer. Cunningham, an
outfielder, was orginally a sixth-round draft pick of the
White Sox in 2005, which traded him to the Diamondbacks, who
packaged him with five other players in a deal with the Athletics
for pitcher Dan Haren. While Oakland remained high on Cunningham,
they needed a third baseman and they have a glut of outfielders so
it wasn’t all that surprising that they moved him along.

Cunningham’s a career .309 hitter in the minor leagues and has a
couple cups of coffee in the majors with Oakland. Check
out his
career numbers.

Royals utility player Willie Bloomquist, and yet
another South Kitsap grad to make it to the majors, had
this to say about Mark McGwire in a story in mlb.com: “I
respected Mark McGwire when I watched him when I was a kid, and I
think he’s a tremendous talent with or without steroids,”
Bloomquist said. “But it’s just unfortunate that one of the
greatest years of our game happened to be when he broke the
home-run record on a performance-enhancing substance.”

Speaking of McGwire, his confession was
coordinated by Ari Fleischer, the former White House press
secretary, who as this Santa Rosa Press Democrat blog points
out, helped sell us George Bush’s war on Iraq. Is
there any remaining doubt about the connection between the sports
world of fun and games and the hardball real world of serious spin,
revisionist history and expert damage control?

The M’s get a lot of love in this week’s issue of the Sporting
News. This P-I
blog sums it up pretty good.

Bree Schaaf’s 11th place finish in a World Cup bobsled
race on Saturday in St. Moritz, Switzerland was good enough to
clinch a spot in next month’s 2010 Olympics. We’ll do our best to
contact the Bremeton athlete. For now, here’s the the
press release from the USA Bobsled and Skeleton team, which quotes
an obviously happy Bree:

Rohbock Leads U.S.; Schaaf Earns Olympic
Berth

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland- Shauna Rohbock
(Park City, Utah) led the U.S. women’s bobsled team in today’s St.
Moritz, Switzerland World Cup event with a fifth place finish.
Bree Schaaf (Bremerton, Wash.) maintained her
status as the second ranked third sled among nations with an
eleventh place finish to earn her first Olympic berth.

“Today’s race was won by only one-hundredth of a second,”
said Rohbock. “The competition is definitely picking up as we
get closer to February. Every week is a challenge, and next
month won’t get any easier. I’m excited that we qualified
three sleds, because I think all of us are competitive and have a
chance to do well.”

Germans swept the podium in a closely contested race
today. Cathleen Martini teamed with Romy Logsch to lead the
field by only one-hundredth with a combined time of two minutes,
14.89 seconds. Reiginig Olympic Champion Sandra Kiriasis
partnered with Christin Senkel for a total time of 2:14.90 to claim
silver, while Claudia Schramm and Berit Wiacker slid a combined
time of 2:15.07 for bronze.

“I’m a little nervous going into the Olympics because I
think the Germans are gaining momentum,” said Rohbock. “Their
push times are getting faster, they have aerodynamic sleds, and
they will be tough to beat. But, you never know what will
happen at the Olympics. It’s always unpredictable.”

Rohbcok teamed with Michelle Rzepka (Novi,
Mich.) for identical start times of 5.64 seconds and runs of
1:07.87 and 1:07.70. The duo clocked a combined time of
2:15.57 seconds on the naturally refrigerated course for fifth
place.

Only two nations are granted three sleds in the women’s
bobsled 2010 Olympic competition. Germany locked up the first
spot earlier in the season based on points, but the second nation
to qualify a third sled was a battle between Canadian Amanda
Stepenko and U.S. pilot Bree Schaaf (Bremerton,
Wash.) today. Schaaf entered this weekend with an 80-point
lead over Stepenko, but still needed to post two solid runs to
secure her qualification.

“Stepenko is one of my favorite people on tour,” said
Schaaf. “I can always count on her to laugh at my jokes, and
she’s been a great friend. Last week she told me I’ve been
doing an amazing job this year and driving really well. I
almost cried. Here we are battling to qualify, and she takes
the time to let me know I’m doing a good job.”

Schaaf slid to the finish with a combined time of 2:16.46
for 11th place, while Stepenko crossed the line with a two-run
total of 2:17.49 for 15th. Schaaf surpassed the Canadian
pilot on a track she’s never driven a bobsled on to earn her
Olympic qualification as the third sled for the U.S.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life,” said Schaaf.
“Nothing compares to the amount of anxiety I felt over the last two
races. Going to the Olympics will feel like going home, but I
had to get there first by driving a new track every week. I can’t
believe I get to walk in opening ceremonies. I dreamed about
this, but now it’s really real.”

Schaaf teamed with Emily Azevedo (Chico,
Calif.), who helped push the pilot to start times of 5.79 and 5.74
for runs of 1:08.01 and 1:08.45, respectively. The U.S. pair
was in seventh after the first heat but fell back into 11th after
Schaaf made a driving error exiting the pivotal corner named
Horseshoe.

“I was one-hundred times more nervous for that second run
than I was for the first,” said Schaaf. “We were excited and
ready to go for the first run, but the second run I felt a wave of
fear. I don’t know where it came from, but I almost blew up
out of Horseshoe. I’m surprised I still have bunks on the
left side of the sled.”

Nation quotas and the Olympic roster will be officially
announced tomorrow, but the U.S. has secured a third sled for
women’s bobsled at the 2010 Olympics based on world-rank
points.

Erin Pac (Farmington, Conn.) had some
difficulty with the natural-made course in her first run, posting a
run of 1:09.04 for 17th position. Teamed with Elana
Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.), team Pac burst off the start
in 5.64 seconds and bettered their finish time by over one second
with a run of 1:08.03 to move up four places. The duo clocked
a total time of 2:16.95 to finish 13th.

Visitwww.UniversalSports.comto find
local television listings for the St. Moritz event as well as
additional information, including video and photos, about bobsled
and skeleton.

The USBSF appreciates your support. Please visitwww.SharetheRideUSA.comto make a
donation and have your name on a national team sled for one
season. For updates on the team throughout the season, follow
USBSF on Twitter or log ontowww.USBSF.com. Please
contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager,
at (518) 523-1842, ext. 106, or atabird@usbsf.comfor any questions
regarding the U.S. team.

1) A group of dedicated and passionate youth baseball leaders in
Poulsbo are trying to decide if there’s enough interest — and
volunteers — to put together a bid to be a possible host for the
2012 Babe Ruth World Series for 14-year-olds. They’re meeting
Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Poulsbo Yacht Club (18129 Fjord
Drive NE). North Kitsap Babe Ruth did such a good job hosting 2000
and 2008 regional events that they’ve been asked to consider
hosting a World Series.

2) While on the subject of bids, Gold Mountain Golf Club and the
University of Washington have been asked to re-submit a bid to host
an NCAA Golf Championship. The course hosted the 2007 NCAA West
Regional and will do it again this year. If the NCAA awards the
championship to the Bremerton facility, it would likely be in 2012
or 2013, said Scott Alexander, director of golf at Gold
Mountain.

3) If you put together a list of top men’s fastpitch pitchers
from Kitsap County, Don Duzenski would be on it. Duzenski recently
passed away. Here’s his
obit. Duzenski, like his brother Bernie “Punk” Duzesnki, had a
nasty drop. It was the kind of pitch that broke catcher’s thumbs
and left batters wondering why their hands hurt so much after
making contact — if you made contact — with his pitch. I never had
the pleasure of playing with Don Duzenski, but he was still one of
the top pitchers and a feared hitter when he came out of a long
retirement to pitch for a season in the 1990s.

4) Bremerton bobsledder Bree Schaaf’s not our only possible
Winter Olympian.
Lindsay Wagner, one of the top figure skaters in the country,
isn’t a native, but the 18-year-old used to spend her summers in
Kitsap County. Her grandfather, Mike James, is the former head
ranger at Scenic Beach State Park. An Army brat, she still
considers Kitsap County as close to a permanent home as she’s had
even though she’s listed from Alexandria, Va. Wagner will compete
in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane next week (the
men compete this weekend) with the top two earning berths to the
2010 Vancouver Olympics.

As for Schaaf, she’ll know her Olympic fate after Saturday’s
World Cup bobsled competition in St. Moritz, Switzerland. If my
math is right, the U.S. currently holds a 21-point lead over Canada
in the team race. Whoever finishes on top will qualify three sleds
to the Olympics; the other country gets just two. Germany’s all but
wrapped up the No. 1 spot. Schaaf is currently 8th overall.
Teammates Shauna Rohback and Erin Pac are 4-5. Canada has the Nos.
2, 3 and 10 bobsledders going into St. Moritz.

5) Wonder where Kasey Dunn lands after all of the Seahawks’
shuffling? Here’s hoping the former three-sport star from North
Kitsap winds up back in Seattle, where he’s been the running backs
coach the past two years after coaching college football for 15
years. His former high school quarterback, Kirk Parrish, is the
Seahawks college scouting coordinator.